By Jean Christou
PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides expects UN Secretary-general Kofi Ann to invite the two sides to talks in the last weeks of October.
However, the President said he did not know at this stage what format the talks would take.
Clerides was speaking on his arrival in New York late on Thursday.
The Greek Cypriot side and the international community has been pushing for a return to direct talks between the leaders of the two communities.
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has said he will not attend any such talks unless his breakaway regime in the north is recognised as a separate state.
Denktash has hinted at the possibility of being open to proximity talks, but this has been rejected outright by the government.
The only other possibility is multi-sided talks involving Greece and Turkey, an idea currently being bandied about in the media.
Clerides said on Thursday his participation in broader peace talks would depend on the composition of such a meeting and the topics to be discussed.
He said he had not been the recipient of any proposals for talks with the participation of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, Greece and Turkey.
Such a proposal was given to Denktash but he turned it down, the government said on Thursday.
Clerides said that if Ankara went to the negotiating table and was ready to discuss a solution within the framework defined by the UN, it would constitute a sign of substantiative progress.
“We have not set any preconditions, we are ready to talk on the basis the Security Council has decided,” Clerides said.
The president said he believed the US would act in a more determined way this time around.
“The determination is there, the problem is how determined are they not just to indicate to Turkey, but to actually apply some of pressure levers that they have,” he said.
“Our understanding is that they are ready to exert their influence in a more effective manner.”
Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday the international community appreciated the effort the Greek Cypriot side was making for the resumption of talks.
“The message the government gets is that international public opinion appreciates the cooperation, tolerance and reason displayed by our side,” Papapetrou said.
He added the international community had also taken note of the negative approach of the Turkish side.
Asked to comment on statements by Denktash that the acceptance of Turkey as an EU candidate would smooth the way for a settlement of the Cyprus problem, Papapetrou said: “The position of Greece and Cyprus on the issue is clear and reflects what the Union itself has decided.”
The EU has said that for Turkey to become eligible for accession, it should meet the criteria all candidate states are asked to fulfil.
Turkey’s poor human rights record and its stance on Cyprus have been major factors in its exclusion from EU candidacy.
Papapetrou said Turkey should take a political decision to take those steps that would lead to a solution of the Cyprus problem.
However, he said he believed the recent improvement in Greco-Turkish relations could benefit settlement efforts and vice versa.
